My friend Jen's Potato and Ham Soup

This one is super simple to make and you boys all love it! In fact... It's dang cold outside today and I am off to whip up some of this soup before the kiddos are up. 

INGREDIENTS

• 2 pounds russet potatoes pealed and diced into bite sized chunks (chunk them in “like” sizes so you get even cooking)
• 1-2 slices breakfast ham or thick cut ham from the store. Cube.
• 1 large box of regular velvetta
• Salt
• Pepper

DIRECTIONS

• 1
  Fill stock pot half way with water. About 1 1/2 to 2 qts.
• 2
  Turn on heat to high and add to this your diced potatoes. Cook until fork goes through without meeting resistance but not mush. Remove from heat. DO NOT DRAIN Add cubed ham. Add the entire block of velveta that has been cut in 2 inch cubes. Stir utnil cheese is melted.

Off the Hook Lasagna Rolls

• 1 box lasagna sheets or homemade sheets
• 1 pound ground pork sausage
• 1 container whole milk ricotta
• 3 cups Monterrey jack cheese
• 1 order white sauce (recipe follows)
• 1 jar prego traditional spaghetti sauce ( yes... I often use a jar... I make my own noodles so somethin had to give... ) 

DIRECTIONS

• 1
  Cook noodles according to directions. Brown the ground pork and drain well.
• 2
  White sauce:
• 3
  1/4 cup butter melted
• 4
  1/4 cup flour
• 5
  2 cups milk
• 6
  1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 7
  1/4 tsp pepper
• 8
  1/4 tsp salt
• 9
  Melt butter and add flour to form yellow paste. Add milk and whisk until paste is broken and dissolved. Add seasoning and cook over medium heat until thickens slightly. Remove from heat.
• 10
  Add 2 cups of the white sauce to bottom of a 9x13 pan.
• 11
  Take cooked noodle and lay on counter. Using back of spoon smear it with ricotta cheese. Spoon in a bit of pork. and roll. Placing the rolls into the pan. Continue until pan is full.
• 12
  Pour 3/4 regular sized jar prego over the rolls and top with sprinkled cheese. Bake at 350* until cheese is melted and bubbly.

Onions and Cucumber's

We grew up on these yummys

INGREDIENTS

• 4 medium cucumbers, peeled and sliced
• 2 medium onions sliced
• 1 cup Miracle Whip
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 4 tablespoons vinegar
• 1/4 tsp salt

DIRECTIONS

Layer cucumbers and onions in a bowl or quart jar. Mix other ingredients and pour over cucumbers. let set for at least 2 hours or over night. Refrigerate.

There is another recipe where there is a creamy sauce. That is great too. We just grew up with it this way so I tend to make this one over the creamy version. 

Bonnie's Potato Salad

Creamy and wonderful! It is truly a staple dish during the boating months!

So many people boil the whole potato. Or they bake the potato and then dice it. No no no! 

INGREDIENTS

• 1~ 5 pound bag of potatoes pealed and cut into bite size cubes.
• 1 dozen eggs
• 2 cups of Miracle Whip
• 3 tablespoons of ketchup
• 1 tablespoon of mustard
• sweet relish
• salt and pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS

• 1
  Take your cubed raw potatoes and put in water and set to boil. They are done when they are fork tender. Drain and spread on cookie sheet to cool. Cook the eggs in a pot to boil for 20 minutes. Cool and peal. Chopping them over the cooked potatoes that are on your cookie sheet. Take your sweet relish and dab it over the potato/eggs and spread it around.
• 2
  Mix up your Miracle Whip, ketchup and mustard. Taste and adjust according to what you like. Using salt and pepper shaker I go over my cookie sheet. (you are seasoning each bite this way and wont over mash your potatoes :) Add half your sauce mix to the cookie sheet and using spatula mix in. Adding more only as you need to get the consistency that you like. Pour in bowl and sprinkle with paprika. Serve cold.

Stuffed Mushrooms

Some simple advice is to double this recipe. It never sticks around long....I mean seriously...I could LIVE on these!

INGREDIENTS

• 4 buckets of baby Bella mushrooms
• 1 tube jimmy dean Italian sausage (DONT COOK)
• 3 cups shredded cheddar cheese

DIRECTIONS

• 1
  Preheat oven to 425* Mix the raw sausage and cheese together. The mushroom stems need to be taken off. and if the mushrooms are dirty use a damp paper towel to clean. *do not soak in water, they will absorb all the water and become soggy.
• 2
  Take a small ball of the meat mixture and roll into a ball and push down into the mushroom top. It will heap over and that is ok. Do all of the mushrooms and set them on a cookie sheet. Bake for 10 - 15 minutes until meat is cooked. Serve

Grilled Fish Taco's

INGREDIENTS

• Mahi Mahi Fish Fillets
• Cajun Seasoning or Northwoods Seasoning (Penzy Spices) 
• Shredded Cabbage
• Salsa or Pico de gallo
• Shredded cheese (optional)
•  sour cream
• 1 pkg guacamole seasoning
• Sm flour or corn tortilla shells (you can also use a slice of lettuce as a wrapper)

DIRECTIONS

• 1
  Mahi Mahi fish fillets. (I buy the unbreaded fillets at Sams/Costco in individual frozen packages which are easy to use, thaw and are great. Fresh fish at the market is great too)
• 2
  I used one fillet for one person. Will get 2 fish tacos out of it.
• 3
  Thaw if frozen. Quick tip? Set frozen fish package in a bowl and run cool water over for a few minutes. It will thaw beautifully. Once thawed, cut against the grain into 1 1/2 inch slices. (about the width of your finger) and sprinkle liberally with your favorite seasonings (something with some kick) . I use Cajun seasoning or Northwoods Seasoning.
• 4
  In a hot skillet, grill pan, or on outdoor grill, cook fish on both sides until done (since they are slices, they take no time at all. Usually 1-2 minutes each side if that)
• 5
  Mix 1/4 cup sour cream with 1-2 tsp of guacamole seasoning
• 6
  I put two slices of grilled fish, a small amount of seasoned sour cream, a hand full of cabbage, ground pepper to taste, a dab of shredded cheese (for looks really so my inner chubby doesn’t feel cheated), and some salsa.
• 7
  Wa La!!! They are so yummo!!!

Grilled Stuffed Flank Steak

INGREDIENTS

• Extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 small onion, sliced
• 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
• Sm bag of mixed sweet peppers (red,yellow,orange) Remove stem and slice
• One small green pepper: Sliced
• Kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper
• One 1 1/2 pound flank steak
• 1 Roma tomato, thinly sliced
• 1 carton sliced mushrooms

DIRECTIONS

• 1
  Set a large saute pan over medium-high heat. Coat with some olive oil and add the garlic, onions, Italian seasoning and thyme. Season with some salt and pepper and saute until well caramelized the peppers, garlic, mushrooms and onion and seasoning, 7 to 8 minutes. add sliced tomatoes. Set aside to cool.
• 2
  Trim the steak of any excess fat and remove any tough silver skin with the tip of a knife. Place the steak vertically on a clean cutting board (so the grain runs up and down). Using a sharp knife, make a flat cut down one side of the piece of meat and cut it open parallel to the board so you can open the steak up like a book. Sprinkle generously with salt and pepper.
• 3
  On one side of the steak spread out the vegi mixture. Fold the flap of beef over the top to cover. Using a bamboo skewer, thread the steak along the cut edge to seal the steak back together and hold the filling in. It doesn’t need to look pretty :) Just get it shut. or you could roll it up and tie it several times with a sting.
• 4
  Heat a large cast-iron skillet or grill pan (or outdoor grill) to high. Coat lightly with some oil to clean and create a nonstick surface. Sprinkle the flank steak with salt and pepper on both sides, and then place on the hot grill. Cook for 5 minutes on the first side, and then use a large spatula to carefully flip and cook for a further 5 minutes on the second side for medium-rare. (If you desire a more well done steak, cook for a few minutes longer on each side.) Best to under cook it. Flank can be tough so less is more.
• 5
  When done, remove from the grill and set aside to rest for 5 minutes before slicing into 1-inch-thick slices.  Why do we let meat thats been cooked rest??? Because the juice runs out if you cut it to soon. Letting it rest will alow the juices to settle back into the meat. ALWAYS CUT: against the grain when cutting meat. Look at how the meat is going...typically its the long way of the meat. Then you would cut on the short side